Untold Secrets of A Fire Nation Prince
by Lillypod
Summary: A troubled prince finds a friend in a watertribe prisoner girl but has to keep it a secret. 1 day she disappears and returns 10years later as a slave to him. But there's 1 thing, she hates him & he's not the same kind prince she use to know.
1. Chapter 1

A.N: ok this is a sort of AU story but not much ok. Hope u guys enjoy this.

**Summery: With Avatar Roku gone, the fire nation seems to be winning the war. A troubled prince finds a friend with a water tribe prisoner girl and has to keep it a secret. One day she disappears and returns 10 years later as a fire nation slave. But there's one thing... she hates him and he's not the kind prince he use to be...**

* * *

Chapter 1

* * *

The ten year old prince watched with puzzled interest from his balcony as a short line of shackled prisoners made their way into the dungeons located below the courtyard grounds via a heavy steel door. Only high level torture prisoners went to the dungeons beneath the courtyard. There, hundreds of pathways crossed each other to form a never ending maze in which escaped prisoners could never reach the surface. It was called the Dungeon of no Return and was designed by his great-grandfather Fire Lord Azulan to house his victims whom he tortured. Only high ranked generals knew the correct way through.

From high palace view he was able to see over the family's garden and palace walls to see into the courtyard. He drew his brows together in query and leaned further over the balcony to get a better view of the prisoners. That couldn't be right. The prisoners all had dark brown skin and long shabby hair which was randomly decorated with ornaments he couldn't distinguish fully. It was definately strange. He'd never seen such dark skinned people before. Judging from the physique and shape of the prisoners, there were three women and five men and both genders walked with a flowing continuous grace that was beyond words even though they were shackled together by the neck and feet. Their movements reminded him of a continuous flow of water...

Water-Benders, he concluded.

It was his first time seeing water-benders and he was amazed. They were nothing like the slimy fish-like creatures Azula had described them to be though he never believed her to begin with. They were somewhat beautiful.

"Hurry up now!" one of the fire bending guards shouted, shoving impatiently on the shoulder of one of the prisoners. "We ain't got whole day."

The prisoner didn't seem to like being pushed around and immediately swung around and swiftly elbowed the guard across the jaw. His movements were so fast Zuko almost missed it. The guard staggered back, shocked for a moment then regained his composure and backhanded the prisoner with a feral frown. The prisoner's head snapped back upon impact but didn't seem impressed. He turned back around with his lip bleeding at the corner and spat blood directly on the guard's boot.

"Is that the best you've got?" he asked, smirking.

The guard's eyes narrowed menacingly before he replied, "You're gonna wish you had never done that, peasant." He looked down at his boot and frowned.

"If I wasn't shackled I would take your ass down."

"You've got a lot of mouth for someone whose life is about to change for the worst."

"Quit playing with the prisoners, lieutenant!" a high ranking general growled, "You can play with your prisoners after we get them to the dungeons."

"Hear that, lieutenant?" the prisoner chuckled, "You get to play with us after. Now ain't that gonna be fun?"

The lieutenant smiled sinisterly and folded his arms behind his back as if to appear casual. "Oh most definately. "I get to have all my fun with you... Hakoda of the Water Tribe."

"Daddy!" a small voice suddenly wailed.

"Hey you! Come back here." another guard demanded, limping

The small voice came from a tiny dark-skinned girl in some sort of heavy thick looking clothing who had managed to break free from her captor and covered the distance separating herself from her father with a remarkable speed. Zuko stood up on the base of the balcony railing to get a better look as the girl dodged the hand of one of the seven guards stationed and ducked through the legs of another and made a beeline to her father. She used size and speed to her advantage and outwitted the guards who were having a difficult time grabbing her.

"Grab her already!" the general shouted, annoyed at the fact that his officers couldn't mange to yet get hold of the small girl.

"Katara," the prisoner smiled, kneeling down relieved to see his daughter was alright.

"Daddy," the girl said tearfully, wrapping her small arms around her father's neck upon reaching him. "I'm scared, daddy. Don't let them take me away from you."

"I won't let them, honey. But listen to me... where is your..."

"Enough!" the general growled, grabbing the water tribe girl roughly by the neck of her blue clothing and ripping her away from her father. "Get this little tramp out of my sight. Toss her in with the servants."

"Daddy!" the girls screamed, reaching out desperately for her father. "No! I want my daddy."

"Don't you dare-" the prisoner began angrily, raising up as if to defend his daughter only to be knocked to the ground with a stinging blow across the face. This time, the hit came from the general.

Zuko's eyes widened as the prisoner fell back with steam rising off the side of his face, bringing the others who were shackled with him to the ground with him.

"I won't tolerate any disrespect from you, prisoner." the general said smoothly. "I am your superior and you _will _show me the respect I deserve." He inflated his chest and frowned deeply down at the prisoners. "Guards... take him away... along with his worthless tribe."

"No! Don't hurt my daddy!" the girl yelled, swinging her feet wildly. The general scowled at the girl and held her arms length away to avoid her careless kicks and punches before tossing her carelessly over his shoulder as if she were a sack of rice to one of the guards. He then dusted himself off and walked away to attend to other business.

"Come along now," the guard said, a bit too cheerfully, "Gotta put you away like the rest of your tribe."

"No!" she screamed, struggling against her captor, "Dad-dy!" she cried as she watched another guard tug the rest of her people through the heavy steel door.

Her father was struggling against the chains but was kicked forward by the same guard who had backhanded him before. "Move along, Hakoda. We don't wana see your daughter hurt now."

The prisoner gave his daughter one final smile, a smile that never quite reached his eyes before he disappeared through the steel door.

"See?" the guard holding the girl said, "Daddy's gone." he faked a shocked gasp when he saw the girl sobbing. "Oh-oh. Sad daddy's not here anymore?" he cooed. "Well," he laughed, "better toughed up, little girl, because daddy ain't gonna be around to protect you anymore."

With that he dragged the struggling girl to the servants quarters.

"Zuko, honey? What are you doing bending over the balcony?" a gentle voice asked suddenly from behind him.

Zuko swiftly turned around and found his mother standing with her arms tucked inside the long sleeves of her black and gold fire nation robes and her eyebrows drawn together in a delicate frown.

"Mom, did you know water bender prisoners are here?" the young prince said excitedly, pointing towards the courtyard beyond the protective walls of the palace.

"Yes I did, now come down from there before you hurt yourself." his mother urged, releasing her hands from inside her sleeves and mentioning her son towards her.

Zuko willingly obeyed and jumped down and followed his mother inside to his bedroom. "Now hurry up and get ready for lunch. It should be ready in a few moments."

"Can't I just go to lunch with what I have on now?" Zuko asked sullenly, looking down at his black and gold attire. He hated changing his clothes everyday for lunch. It was silly and wasted time.

"Not if you want your father to be cross with you again, dear." his mother reasoned, gliding gracefully across his room to open his closet. "Now come and put on these robes I have chosen."

She held up a black pants and a matching long sleeved, high collared shirt embroidered with a red and gold dragon swirling over the shoulder. "How about these? They would make your eyes look pretty."

"Mo-om!" Zuko groaned, dropping his shoulders.

"Okay, okay," she smiled, "but wear these robes. They make you look handsome."

Zuko took one look at it and folded his arms. "Fine, but I still hate changing for lunch."

"Of course, dear. I'll be waiting outside your door." She smiled warmly before tucking her arms inside her sleeves once again and exiting his room.

Once the door closed, Zuko dropped his arms and sullenly grabbed the outfit his mother had left neatly on the bed and stomped off to his ajoining bath to get changed. He came out five minutes later and found his mother waiting patiently beside his door. She smiled down at him and asked,

"Ready?"

He nodded and they made their way to the dinning hall. Upon arrival, Zuko saw his sister and father already seated at the grand dinning table. Zuko bowed and gave his acknowledgment to his father then took his seat next to his sister.

"Royally late again, brother?" Azula sneered silently while the Fire Lord gave the signal to the two servants posted at either side of the dinning hall entrance to bring in the food.

"Shut it, Azula. I'm not in the mood for your teasing right now."

"I wasn't teasing, brother dearest. Just merely stating the obvious."

Zuko glared at his sister who gave him an innocent smile before picking up her fork and eating. He looked across the table to his father who sat elegantly eating, then to the empty seat which belonged to his uncle and finally his mother. She caught his gaze and nodded towards his food and mouthed 'eat'.

Frowning, Zuko picked up his fork and began eating when suddenly his shin erupted in pain. He yelped in pain and dropped his fork to rub his aching shin. Azula. He glared at his sister who chose to ignore him.

"What's the matter?" his mother queried, lowering her fork.

"Azula kicked me." Zuko mumbled, shooting eye daggers at his sister.

"Oh please," Azula waved off, "Why would I kick you?"

"Azula!" their mother said sternly, "That's no way to behave at the table further more treat your brother. Now apologize."

"But mother..." Azula began.

"Quit babying the boy, Ursa." the Fire Lord interrupted, "He's just looking for attention."

"But father," Zuko protested, "Azula really did..."

"Quiet boy!" The Fire Lord snapped, "I won't tolerate back talking from you."

Zuko fell silent and willed himself not to look up at his sister. He just knew she had a smirk on her face. The lying idiot. She was good at that, his sister. It came like breathing to her, that and fire bending. Easy and without thought. Clenching his fist, Zuko pushed back his chair.

"May I be excused?"

His mother looked up from her food and frowned. "But Zuko, you haven't touched your roasted beavergoose."

"I'm not hungry anymore."

"Go," his father waved off, not bothering to look up from his food.

Zuko bowed respectfully and stiffly left the dinning hall not even aware that he left his mother alone to watch his empty seat sadly.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

Chapter 2

* * *

"Quit yuh cryin' already," the guard snapped irritably, pulling impatiently on the sleeve of Katara's parka.

"No! No! Lemme go!" Katara shouted, hitting her other clenched fist against the back of her captor.

"Hey, now stop that!"

"I said let me go," she continued stubbornly, "You big fire-breathing dum-dum head."

"Listen here, you little brat," the guard sneered, suddenly stopping and lifting Katara up in mid air with his both hands. "If I have to hear one more insult from you, I'll smack you right upside your head. Got that?"

Katara folded her arms sullenly and showed him a monkey face. "My daddy says I don't have to listen to your dum-dum kind. You wait and see, my daddy will break free and beat you up."

"Oh really?" the guard laughed, "I'd love to see that happen. But until then, shut the hell up before I burn that mouth of yours right off your ugly face."

He said the last part out through clenched teeth and held a fierce frown on his face. Katara glared back at him with equal fury but wisely kept silent.

"Good." he gave her a creepy smile and continued walking.

They came upon a huge gate which was in the middle of long, continuous tall walls. At the tip of the walls there were red and gold decorative shingles. The ivory walls went on for miles and Katara had to bend her neck to see how far it stretched for.

"Halt! Who goes there?" a loud voice boomed from a tall steel tower that soared skyward.

"Lieutenant Fong Cheng from division four. I have a new servant for the palace.

"You're cleared."

The gate swung open and the guard tugged a gaping Katara. What Katara saw next had her eyes wondering all over. She'd never seen anything like it. They had entered some sort of lavishlt decorated garden in which the ground was covered in this strange green-like... fur? The fur was also on tall, thick looking sticks which seem to have grown from the ground. What was this place? She looked up at her captor, puzzled and curious, wondering why he wasn't reacting like she did.

Was it normal to have this strange fur covering the ground? And the amazing thing was, there was alot of it. What was it called? In all her eight years of living, she'd never seen such a peculiar fur. She was more accustom to seeing ice, snow and water, after all, she did spend most of her life in an icy tundra. Must have been some big animal they killed and skinned to cover this amount of ground, she concluded. Fire Nation people were definitely strange. Why would they put fur on the ground and leave it there? If only Sokka were here... Her thoughts trailed off. Sokka!

Her heart suddenly accelerated in her chest. Where was Sokka? The last time she saw her brother before the Fire Benders tossed her on their ship was back in their village trying to defend the other villagers. She had no idea if he had been put on the ship as well since the men were separated from the women when on board. And after seven months at sea, the only time she had seen her father after the attack was just a few moments ago...

"Hurry up now," the guard snapped, tugging roughly on her arm.

Katara stumbled forward a bit and tried her best to keep up with his long strides. He wasn't particularly mindful that she tripped, only frowned down at her and quickly snapped at her to watch where she was going. Finally they reached a carved wooden door with a heavy black knocker at the middle of it. The knocker was shaped as the head of a fierce dragon with its tongue swirling out its mouth and its sharp eyes staring mercilessly at her. Katara whimpered softly and slid behind the guard to avoid it's eyes. He smirked at her fear and knocked twice and stood stiffly with a firm grip on Katara's arm. The door immediately swung open and there stood a heavily wrinkled old man with a sharp set of golden eyes. He had on the traditional fire nation colours along with a dirty apron. His arms were folded and he glared at the lieutenant with unflinching eyes.

"Can I help you, Lieutenant?" he asked in a dead pan tone.

"Yeah, " the lieutenant replied, scratching the back of his head, "Gotta new servant for yuh. Young and able."

The old man's eyes shifted to head peeking from behind the guard's legs and immediately narrowed. "You brought me a worthless water peasent? Are you alright in your head? We don't have enough food to spare another hungry mouth. Especially those that aren't our kind. Take it back."

"I have strict orders from the General. You are to take her as a servant. Make her work for her food."

The guard pulled her from behind him and shoved her forward into the arms of the old man. He caught her arm swiftly and pulled her to stand besides him. "Very well," he muttered, frowning at the mention of the general's name. "I will take her in. But I have by all means the right to punish her if she disobeys."

"I couldn't care less what you do to the girl, just make sure she works."

The guard turned on his heel and left Katara with the old man. He closed the door and flipped the lock. Katara held her breath at the sound and risked a glance up at man. Her breath caught in her chest as a smile broke out slowly across his face, inch by inch it lifted up until his wrinkled cheek rose and his eyes were no longer seen. However, what made his smile creepy was the fact that he had a perfect set of good teeth. No gaps, no discolouration. Katara shuddered visibly and winced as his grip tighten on her upper arm.

"So, I am to make you a servant, eh?" he said, talking to himself. He began walking down a dimly lit hallway. The floors were were made of flag stone and was disgusting and dirty while the walls were made of cobble stone with grime and blue-green moss filling the creases. An unidentifiable foul stench radiated off the floor and Katara had to hold her breath and breathe scarcely in order to avoid gagging on her own vomit that threaten to raise from her churning stomach. Finally they came out from the long hallway and into a small dirt courtyard. The sun shone over head brightly and the courtyard was enclosed with concrete walls dotted with random doors and small bamboo windows. The majority of the doors were opened and inside were women working.

"I am Head servant of Division six. We keep maintenance of the Palace's grounds." his lips curled at his words but kept his face with that creepy smile. He looked down at her and continued. "My name is Pai and as your superior you are to obey all my orders. You are to address me by Head Master. There is no slacking in my division and any disobedience is rewarded with severe punishment. You work for your food and the amount of food you get is determined by how much work you put out."

He released her arm and snapped his fingers at a young girl carrying a well size jar of water across the courtyard.

"You there, come here."

A flash of fear was seen in her eyes before she quickly complied and walked over.

"Yes, Head Master," she bowed respectfully after placing the jar besides her feet.

"Take this water brat and instruct her how things are done here." he glanced down at Katara once more and frowned, "And get rid of those filthy clothes she's wearing and put her in fire nation robes, her clothes disgust me. Burn them."

The girl looked at Katara before replying, "Yes Head Master."

"Good. I take my leave now."

He left and disappeared through the hallway from which they first came. Katara looked around at her new surroundings and bit her lip out of fear. She was so out of her element and she did not like it. It was too hot over here and the people here were odd. Something was wrong with them. Their skin were too pale and their eyes were definatley scary. And what was up with the strange bun on top their heads? Everyone she saw so far had their hair in that hair style.

"Come," the girl said to Katara, "We must change you out of those clothes or the head Master would be angry with you.

She picked up her jar and began walking toward one of the doors surrounding the dirt courtyard. Katara followed from behind, fearful and nervous about her new surroundings.

"Hurry up now, we don't have much time." the girl said.

Katara hasten her steps, keeping her head down and avoided the resentful stares coming from the rest off the servants.

They entered a small large room and the girl placed her jar besides the door then proceeded to fold up her long sleeves and tie her skirt around her hips. Katara cocked her head at her weird behavior, puzzled as the girl then bent down in front of an old wooden wardrobe and began rufflling through fabrics and accessories. She paused for a minute, looked at Katara then resumed what she was doing.

"Come here," she said, waving a hurried hand and pulled out a small red shirt with long sleeves and a matching skirt. Katara hurried over and stood uncomfortably in front of the girl.

"Hurry, take off your clothes and put these on." She placed the clothes on the wooden floors before turning her attention to the wardrobe once more. Katara glanced at the clothes, frowning at the material. She wouldn't dare put on fire nation colours, not after what they put her through. The girl sensed Katara's discomfort and rolled her eyes.

"Put on the clothes or the Head Master would have you punished. We don't have much time so you must hurry."

Katara's face became sullen and unhappily began taking off her clothes. When she was down to her undergarments she suddenly became shy and held her parka in front of her to block her nudity.

"No time to be shy, darling." She took Katara's parka which she had to pry slowly from the girl's hand and smoothly pulled the fire nation shirt over her head. She quickly pushed the skirt unto Katara's hips and was in the middle of putting her hair in the traditional fire nation bun when suddenly Katara began crying.

"What's the matter?" She paused for a minute and watched as Katara slowly stoop down and buried her face in her knees.

"I want my daddy." she said sadly.

"I know you do," she pulled herself closer to the crying girl and placed her hands on Katara's sobbing shoulders, "But your daddy isn't going to be here anymore and the life you once knew is about to become the worst thing you can ever imagine.

* * *


End file.
